Commission brief: In winter 1945, Mies van der Rohe and Dr. Edith Farnsworth met at a dinner party near the end of the year. During their first encounter the two discussed Dr. Farnsworth’s desire to build for herself a retreat from Chicago on a large plot of land that she owned in Plano, Illinois. In the following days, Farnsworth secured Mies for the commission.
Design brief: By 1946, the basic design of the house was established. The house was intended to serve as a weekend retreat for Edith Farnsworth, a single Chicago doctor. The house is strategically placed yards from the banks of the Fox River. To cope with common rising tides that occur during the spring months, Mies designed the house to sit 5 feet 3 inches above ground level. The south elevation, from which the house is entered, faces the river. In addition, the house is framed by the presence of a large sugar maple, also on the south elevation. The house is essentially a single room in which the only visual barrier is the central mechanical core containing the kitchen, two bathrooms and all heating and electrical equipment.
The open composition was not at all common in domestic spaces and was admired almost immediately by architect Philip Johnson. In 1949, Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, which he openly admitted was inspired in part by the Farnsworth House, was completed. An early rendering of the Farnsworth house shows a narrow, cylindrical core very similar to the core of the Johnson house. Although the design process lasted for approximately two years (1945-47), very little change in the plan as noted after 1946.
Building/ construction: In September 1949, delayed due to financial constraints, construction on the house began. Construction was not completed until October of 1951. First, the steel frame was welded into place and sandblasted to remove all seam lines. Subsequently, pre cast concrete slabs were installed for the floor and ceiling, supported by a total of eight steel columns. A radiant heating system was installed in the floor, followed by travertine flooring and finally the large, plate glass walls.

Others associated with Building/Site: Original owner/ patron: Dr. Edith Farnsworth
Name: Kendall County Board of Supervisors
Association: Local governmental authorities in Plano, Illinois
Event: In order to gain access across the Fox River for a nearby road, the Board of Supervisors seized a portion of her property by eminent domain. The presence of the bridge meant the house was no longer completely screened from the public. Period: (c) Summer, 1968
Name: Lord Peter Palumbo
Association: Palumbo purchased the house from Edith Farnsworth in 1968.
Event: Palumbo maintained the residence for weekend trips for 36 years. Period: (c) 1968-2004
Name: Landmarks Preservation Commission of Illinois and National Trust of Historic Preservation
Association: The groups co-purchased the house, with additional contributions from various organizations and private parties, in an auction at Christie’s after Palumbo put the house for sale.
Period: 2004-present

Significant Alteration(s) with Date(s): Type of change: Alteration
Date(s):(c) 1951-52
Circumstances/ reasons for change: Farnsworth had screens added to enclose the porch shortly after construction was completed.
Effects of changes: As a result of the change, the original asymmetrical composition was compromised. The cantilevered roof and floor slabs do not clearly convey the feeling of a floating box as the architect intended.
Persons/ organizations involved: Dr. Edith Farnsworth
Type of change: Restoration
Date(s):(c) 1957
Circumstances/ reasons for change: The nearby Fox River set record flood levels, with water rising to four feet above the floor.
Effects of changes: Although neither the wood nor the steel frame were damaged significantly, draperies and some furnishings were replaced.
Persons/ organizations involved: Dr. Edith Farnsworth
Type of change: Restoration, renovation and alteration
Date(s):(c) 1972
Circumstances/ reasons for change: Peter Palumbo employed Dirk Lohan, an architect and Mies’ grandson to restore the Farnsworth house to its original 1951 appearance, reversing changes that Dr. Farnsworth had made over the years.
Effects of changes: The changes include removing the screens around the porch, replacing the tarred roof and sandblasting the steel frame, repainting it white. An air conditioning system was also added, without any visible changes to the aesthetic. Renovations were also made to the kitchen space, updating the appliances. The only noted alteration that was made to the house at this time was the addition of a hearth around the fireplace, both in travertine in order to make it more functional, inhibiting ash from flying around the house. Palumbo also replaced all the interior furnishings with those of Mies’ design. In addition Palumbo altered the landscape with the aid of landscape architect Lanning Roper. Pathway tiles leading to the house that had beenadded by Farnsworth were removed, the driveway was moved further away from the house and followed the curve of the landscape (replacing the straight driveway that remained from the contractors during the house’s construction) and various plantings were added to enhance the house and screen the roadway.
Persons/ organizations involved: Lord Peter Palumbo, Dirk Lohan (architect) and Lanning Roper (landscape architect)
Type of change: Restoration
Date(s):(c) July, 1996
Circumstances/ reasons for change: Flood waters from the Fox River engulfed the house, rising to a height of ten feet resulting in extensive damages to the house and furnishings.
Effects of changes: The glass windows were not strong enough to stand up against the flood. Furniture was carried away and mud and silt infiltrated the Primavera wood and travertine requiring a large clean up and restoration project. The veneer panels were replaced where necessary as well as the windows and furniture. Restoration was completed (c) 1997.
Persons/ organizations involved: Peter Palumbo and Dirk Lohan (architect)

Current Use: Of whole building/ site: House museum
Of principal components: House museum
Comments: The site operates as a house museum, open for private tours and run by Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois

Current Condition: Of whole building/ site: Out of view to the house, the boathouse now operates as the Farnsworth house visitor center.
Of principal components: Throughout its existence, the house has been well maintained. Restoration of the house in 1996 is maintained to the highest standard.

General Description:

The house, most simply described as a floating glass box, is 77 feet 33 inches long and 28 feet 8 inches wide and sits 5 feet 3 inches above the ground. The glass walls of the building stand between two rectangular pre-cast concrete slabs, supported in total by eight steel columns sandblasted smooth and painted white. The wall-to-ceiling glass was made possible by hanging the floor and roof from wide flange piers. With the exception of the steel columns, the building is connected to the ground by a small, cylindrical mechanical core. In addition, stairs and a secondary floating platform, 55 feet 3 inches by 22 feet 8 inches, lead to a porch in front of the entrance to the house creating an asymmetrical composition. This idea is perpetuated in the placement of the entrance to the house-slightly off center, giving the house an occult sense of balance. The travertine flooring inside and out is laid in an uninterrupted grid pattern of equally sized slabs with use of the material continuing in the stair treads that lead to both the platform and the porch. Although the length of the house runs parallel to the Fox River, the stairs to the porch, located on the south elevation, are perpendicular to this forcing a ninety degree turn in order to gain entrance to the house. The core of the house, faced entirely in primavera wood serves as the means for defining the various spaces of the house without internal enclosures. The house is located in a clearing, yards from the Fox River, reinforcing a connection with the natural environment. When the house was planned and constructed, the sugar maples present on the site were used to create a frame for the building. The placement of the house in a rural setting is important to the conception of the house, since Mies intended one to visually intermingle with nature throughout the year.

Construction Period:

Original Physical Context:

Surrounding area/ buildings: garage, pool and boathouse (non contributing)
Visual relations: The garage, pool and boathouse are located out of viewing range of house.
Functional relations: Dr. Farnsworth added the garage shortly after moving in while Palumbo was responsible for the pool and boathouse.
Completed situation: The house was built to take advantage of the beauty of the natural landscape. It is situated in a small clearing yards away from the Fox River and is complimented by the close proximity of several sugar maple trees and brush, creating for the inhabitant the sense of merging into the natural environment.
Original situation or character of site: In the design and planning of the house, Mies was careful to utilize the existing natural conditions of the property and alter as little as possible. To him, the house was meant to join with the landscape, not assert itself in opposition to it.

Evaluation

Technical Evaluation:

The clear span steel and glass structure allows for a breadth of space without the presence of columns internally. The use of this construction method marks one of the earliest examples of this idea later developed on a larger scale with projects such as Crown Hall at IIT in Chicago and The National Gallery in Berlin. In its minimalism, the self-supporting structure represents the realization of Mies’ treatise on design to a degree unachieved in his past and subsequent projects aided by the relatively small scale of the building. In addition to the tectonic quality achieved by the steel piers, they provide a sculptural aesthetic to the skeleton.

Social:

Socially, the most notable aspect of the Farnsworth House is in the implicit connection with nature that Mies conveyed through the house. The placement of the house in a bucolic setting against the Fox River is integral to Mies’ composition. It is meant to completely immerse the inhabitant in the environment. The architect is quoted as saying, “when one looks at Nature through the glass walls of the Farnsworth house, it takes on a deeper significance than when one stands outside. More of Nature is thus expressed—it becomes part of a greater whole.”

Cultural & Aesthetic:The aesthetic merits of the house are intrinsically tied to its structure. Structural clarity, expressed through the steel columns and the horizontal, cantilevered planes they support enhances the serene, floating image of the house at the edge of the Fox River. In addition, the heightened transparency of the glass between the cantilevered planes dissolves the barriers between internal and external environments. The vibrant vegetation surrounding the house is responsible for its subdued tones—painted white steel, natural stone and glass acting as the palette onto which an ever-changing picture is displayed.
Canonical Status: Upon its completion, the house was featured in Architectural Forum, where it was not only described in terms of its “precise and detailed” construction but also in terms of “pure simplicity of concept.” Most importantly, this was recognized as “the will of an epoch translated into space,” serving as a physical manifestation of Mies’ ideas regarding architecture and the individual, namely that architecture should be “an objective, impersonal backdrop against which an individual...can develop freely.” Since its construction, the house has been considered an achievement of modern architecture, melting away the boundaries that differentiate inside from out and dissolving the entire building down to only that which is absolutely essential, achieving a maximum of transparency in the process.

Historical:

General Assessment:During its design phase, the Farnsworth House became the inspiration for another critically acclaimed work, Philip Johnson’s glass house,which also capitalizes on a minimal use of materials and a connection with the environment. These two houses have become iconic examples of the ascetic ideals in mid-century modern architecture. Although similar in design ideals, there are important differences in construction and meaning between the two, particularly that unlike the Farnsworth House the Glass House is “symmetrically balanced” and “firmly rooted to the ground.”
The Farnsworth House is a progression of Mies’ earlier work in Europe including the Barcelona Pavilion (1929) and the Tugendhat house (1930). Here, the reduction of elements in the composition serves as the synthesis and refinement of these earlier works into the style and ideas that Mies van der Rohe became recognized for.